A survey among retailers conducted by the Chamber of Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises - GRTU has painted a somewhat bleak picture of shopping trends. Ninety two per cent of respondents said they were tangibly affected by the credit crunch while another 92 per cent said they believed people were shopping less.
Asked if sales or discounts were "helping to tide things over" only 42 per cent of retailers replied in the affirmative.
The survey also showed that most shoppers were increasingly buying smaller items and less luxury products with 87 per cent of the respondents saying this was the case.
The survey was conducted this week among a number of retail outlets of all types.
A number of respondents also sent in comments to the GRTU along with their answers. One retailer said: "The government should seriously look at controlling the amount being spent on gambling. Every time there is a large jackpot, the spending power of the man in the street is reduced due to an excessive gambling spend."
Another respondent blamed the media for the situation: "The media has a negative effect and has contributed to reduce consumers' confidence. It should not only report negative matters but also mention how things are improving and what governments are doing to overcome this crisis."
One respondent said only tourism could save the economy in the short-term saying: "There should be more investment in tourism as we already have most of the infrastructure. Why not invest in an advertising campaign for the Sicilian market?"
One retailer warned that unless the government took immediate action to assist hotels and people whose jobs could be lost by the end of year and address the issue of the electricity bills - which caused a huge amount of uncertainty - "the damage is going to be irrevocable". The shop owner added: "Banks can assist by assuring the temporary suspension of loan repayments for those who are losing income due to redundancies. There is no point in digging our head in the ground and thinking that this is not real because I feel that this is only the beginning of a further downturn in the economy."
Asked if sales or discounts were "helping to tide things over" only 42 per cent of retailers replied in the affirmative.
The survey also showed that most shoppers were increasingly buying smaller items and less luxury products with 87 per cent of the respondents saying this was the case.
The survey was conducted this week among a number of retail outlets of all types.
A number of respondents also sent in comments to the GRTU along with their answers. One retailer said: "The government should seriously look at controlling the amount being spent on gambling. Every time there is a large jackpot, the spending power of the man in the street is reduced due to an excessive gambling spend."
Another respondent blamed the media for the situation: "The media has a negative effect and has contributed to reduce consumers' confidence. It should not only report negative matters but also mention how things are improving and what governments are doing to overcome this crisis."
One respondent said only tourism could save the economy in the short-term saying: "There should be more investment in tourism as we already have most of the infrastructure. Why not invest in an advertising campaign for the Sicilian market?"
One retailer warned that unless the government took immediate action to assist hotels and people whose jobs could be lost by the end of year and address the issue of the electricity bills - which caused a huge amount of uncertainty - "the damage is going to be irrevocable". The shop owner added: "Banks can assist by assuring the temporary suspension of loan repayments for those who are losing income due to redundancies. There is no point in digging our head in the ground and thinking that this is not real because I feel that this is only the beginning of a further downturn in the economy."